Holiday Cutting Boards 2011

Well, it turns out that the family members that didn’t receive one of the end grain boards last year were a little bummed, so I made these 3 for holiday gifts. They measure about 12” x 18”. Two of them are 1-3/4” thick and the third is 1-1/4” thick (I got a little overzealous with the rips for the first 2 to make them nice and thick, and almost ran out of material). I decided to try some species that I had not yet worked with; yellowheart and cherry. The other species include walnut, maple, mahogany and purple heart on one of them. For what it’s worth, I don’t own a power planer, so I thicknessed and jointed every board by hand. I had a real sense of pride for a while, but that ol’ Union #7 is one heavy dude. If I ever go into the butcher block business, a power planer will be the first investment. I finished them with walnut oil, and I am very happy with how they look. The walnut oil really brought out the brilliance of the grains without making them too dark. Here’s the best part… I’m done with an entire week to spare!

Thanks for looking guys! I read quite a few threads about walnut oil and folks with nut allergies, and just couldn’t decide. I liked the idea of the walnut oil hardening more than the mineral oil, plus I wanted to try something new. Fortunately no one in the family has nut allergies, but I definitely plan on disclosing the finish so the recipients can be cautious when preparing food for guests.

Nice boards. I like the mix of woods. The grain on the yellow-heart really popped on that third one. I haven’t tried edge-grain boards yet, although I have a couple planned. If you do decide to make some end-grain boards, you would be wise stay away from the hand planes for surfacing. I learned that lesson the hard way and had some horrible species dependent tearout (even with freshly honed blades) that needed to be cleaned up with copious amounts of sanding and scraping.

Thanks Joe. I did some end grain boards last year and used a belt sander to flatten then. That end grain is some tough stuff. I had to start with 60 grit belts to even have a chance. I’m not sure what the best method on end grain boards it to get them truly flat. I know that they will tear up a power planer knife pretty bad. I guess a wide drum sander is the way to go?